and stop killing civilians. if not now, when will you tell them to stop? and both of you -- >> and you do understand about october 7? >> believe me, i understand that. >> one of the worst days in the history of humanity. what happened. i have seen the tapes. babies that are four-month old, just chopped up two pieces. you have seen the tapes and i have seen the tapes. you are a professional and so my. -- so am i. people forget about what happened on october 7. i can't. i do not want help -- hospitals used as human shields. which is what hamas is threatening to do. >> but when you get back, you will tell him to stop? >> i do not want the back piecemeal. i want them back. , the hostages.

>> you said free speech is under cap -- under attack in the u.k.. do you agree with him? we saw the dismissal of very well-known chat show host in america last night, mr. kimmell. his free speech more under attack in britain or america? president from: jimmy kim a was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else and he said a horrible thing about charlie kirk. jimmy kim is no the speaker pro tempore: house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? >> pursuant to house resolution 722, i call up h.res. 719 honoring the life and legacy of charles "charlie" james kirk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: resolution honoring the life and legacy of charles "charlie" james kirk. the speaker pro tempore: pursuan t to house resolution 722, the resolution is considered read and the resolution is to be debatable one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority

member on oversight and government reform or their respective designees. mr. biggs and mr. garcia each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes mr. biggs. [mr. biggs: i ask unanimous consent all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. biggs: mr. chair, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. biggs: i rise in strong support of h.res. 719, honoring the life and legacy of charlie kirk. last week on september 10, we tragically lost a tremendous leader and friend. a cowardly, deranged and unstable assassin with left wing ideology murdered a conservative icon over political disagreements. charlie kirk was an inspiration to an entire generation and will be remembered as someone who changed the very course of our country. but his most important role was as loving husband, father, and devout christian who shared his

faith unapologetically. my thoughts and prayers are with erika and charlie's two young children. he was a man committed to his faith, his family, and this nation. he dedicated his life to protecting and defending the god given rights enshrined in our founding documents. he worked tirelessly to demon straight how to engage in peaceful and meaningful political dialogue. the life of our republic depends on resolving differences through spirited debate, the ballot box, and embracing the rule of law. political violence has no place in this country. violent rhetoric such as describing political opponents as facist or nazis is unacceptable. charlie's assassination was a deliberate targeted attack. it was meant to silence a conservative voice. this assassination was meant to instill fear and chill debate. but we've responded and will continue to respond with

courage. we'll double down on the work charlie dedicated his life to and with the resolution today, we firmly condemn these attacks that cut his life short. i thankful i can lead this bill. and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. mr. garcia is recognized. mr. garcia: thank you, i yield myself as much time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. garcia: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to speak on the principles that bind us together as a nation. first and foremost, i must acknowledge this human tragedy. a wife has lost her husband, children have lost their father, a family has been shattered by senseless violence. whatever our personal and political views, there should be no hesitation in extending deep sympathy to charlie kirk's loved ones, family, and friends. we also stand here today to reaffirm a principle that runs deeper than politics.

political violence has no place in the united states of america. our democracy rests on a fragile but enduring promise, that disagreements are to be aired through speech, through debate, and through the ballot box, not through intimidation, not through violence, and not through bloodshed. that promise is enshrined in the constitution which protects freedom of speech and assembly. precisely because the framers understood as we all know that democracy cannot function without the ability to argue, to disagree, and sometimes offend each other without fear of retribution. that principle cuts both ways. we cannot claim to defend free speech if we only protect words we find comfortable or agreeable or polite. the test of our commitment to the first amendment is not whether we defend a speech we like, it's whether we defend the speech we dislike. our constitution demands that we find a way to live together in freedom even when our visions

for the country might differ. democracy requires us to resolve our differences not by force but by persuasion, not by threats but by votes. not by silencing votes, but by answering them. so today, we all join together to mourn the kirk family. let's recommit ourselves to the freedoms guaranteed in the constitution and thank you, mr. speaker, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlemanreserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. biggs: thank you. i yield one minute to the gentleman from arizona, mr. go start. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. goes art: i thank the gentleman from arizona. mr. speaker, i rise in strong support of h.res. 719, honoring the life of charles "charlie" james kirk. charlie kirk was a patriot, a christian, an activist that traveled america engaging young people in civil discourse. charlie was doing what he loved, building a platform to share his faith in jesus crisis and

welcoming peaceful, political dialogue. and his life was cut short by a radicalized monster. charlie considered arizona his home but he poured out his heart and soul into america, a country he so loved. he was a force of nature and changed the course and direction of this country. charlie was also my friend. words cannot describe how i feel. his voice, conviction, and friendship will be dearly missed. america will never be the same. we owe charlie this honor. as he asked, this resolution helped to ensure -- this resolution helps to ensure charlie will forever be remembered for his courage and faith in jesus christ. godspeed, my friend. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california reserves. mr. biggs: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from north

carolina. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for one minute. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank my colleague for yielding. mr. speaker, charlie kirk stood for the open exchange of ideas, our god given freedoms and spirited debate that challenged people to view the issues of the day in a different light. he reminded us to remain rooted in our faith and to seek god's wisdom every day. civil society lost one of its most vocal defenders. there's no question about it. but let me say this, charlie kirk's work and impact are far from over. every day men and women are rallying to carry on the mantle that he once carried. mr. speaker, that is a powerful

testament to his impact upon the world. i pray that god gives his wife, erica, his children, and his family continued comfort. i support the resolution today and urge my colleagues to do the same and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. mr. biggs: i yield one minute to the gentlelady from wyoming, ms. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized 1. ms. hageman: i rise to support h.r. 719. i had the honor of working with charlie the last several years. he gave voice to so many young people. he was outspoken about his faith and conserve pitch values and dedicated his life to engaging people in respectful and

intelligent debate and he left his mark on this great country and will be forever missed. what happened in september 2025 was a violent political assassination on the attack of the very freedoms that charlie lived and fought to protect. today we must honor charlie by recommitting ourselves to what he stood for, respectful open dialogue, faith, family, truth and freedom. let charlie's death not deepen our visions but the spark that unites us. may we reject political violence wherever it comes from and restore civility. i urge my colleagues to support this resolution to honor charlie's life to affirm the right to freely engage in public speech and to resolve that america will stand undeterred by violence. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from california. the speaker pro tempore: reserve s. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. biggs: thank you, mr. speaker.

i'll yield to myself as much time as i may consume. so what did charlie do that was so unique? charlie invited people to come up to meet and debate him openly and without hostility or ridicule. he invited -- he would go to college campuses and they'd do a pop-up tent and he'd sit there and there would be invariably a large crowd and he would say, if you disagree with me, we want you to come up first. and come to the front of the line. then he would have a debate and then invariably he'd win. why would he win? because charlie was a smart guy. charlie was prepared. charlie knew the answers. charlie knew the answers. when charlie was at oak ford university debating -- oxford university debating, that was phenomenal. i reserve, mr. speaker.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. garcia: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. biggs: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield such time he may consume to the honorable speaker of the house, my friend from louisiana. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman yield one minute? mr. biggs: of course. mike johnson. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for one minute. the speaker: i thank my dear friend from arizona. it's been a tough time in arizona. my colleague, andy biggs, has done a great job in leading people who are shaken. i will say people all over this country are shaken. mr. speaker, this has been a tough week in the country. i think i have spoken at three or four vigils already. i'll be attending our late friend charlie kirk's funeral on sunday as many of us will to pay our -- what will be our last respects. but the honor of his memory will go on. the last week has been difficult because people are shaken by this in a way we have not seen

the country moved in quite some time. i described it as if a shadow has been cast across the country by the untimely death of our dear friend anti-way it was done in such a hateful -- and the way it was done in such a hateful, heinous matter, online for people to view. my heart goes out in particular to all the students in this country who are so closely associated with charlie kirk's organization, turning point. there are 3,500-plus chapters of turning point at universities, college campus, high school campuses across america. so many of those students felt personally connected to charlie because his voice resonated with them and helped inform their world view and wait they see politics and society. and the way they see politics and society. when he was lost in such a tragic manner, they felt it to their core. i have been so burdened and disturbed. i have been praying for all those kids.

untold number of young people who are so disturbed and need trauma counseling themselves from what they have seen and witnessed. but in the midst of all this the thing that encourages me is that i believe in the same promises of scripture that charlie did. and i have been reminded a lot of the passage of scripture that says, the light shines in the darkness. and the darkness cannot overcome it. some translations of the bible say the darkness cannot comprehend it. i think that's true. what i have said to all these students and shared in the vigils is the same refrain, to summarize the best way to honor the legacy of this singular voice in our culture, not just in the conservative movement, but in the recent history of america, in the last several decades, the best way to honor the work and the legacy and ministry of charlie kirk is to do what did he. that is to advance the principles that he advanced and to adopt his approach.

what i mean by that is the principles that charlie advanced were the good things, scripture talks about we focus on the noble and praiseworthy of the good. and charlie did that. he focused on things like faith and family and freedom and virtue and honor. and patriotism. charlie believed in america. he believed in the promise of america. and the creed of america. that we are all made in the image of god. the self-evident truths that god is the one that gives us our rights and not the government. those principles are worth fighting for. charlie'-r used to quote ronald reagan, reagan remainedded us, freedom is not inherited in the bloodstream, it has to be fought for and protected and taught and passed along to the generation that is come behind us so they will know the same liberty and opportunity and security that too much us have taken for granted too often. charlie believed that. he advanced those principles every single day in every venue

he was able. but he did it in a manner that we should emulate. because i tell the young people they should adopt the practices and the manner, adopt the approach of charlie kirk. what i mean by that is that he was never motivated by hatred for someone on the other side of that debate. charlie, to the contrary, was motivated by love. he believed in what scripture says. there are these three things that remain faith u. hope, and love. love is the greatest of love. love overcomes. love conquers. and that's what motivated our friend. even though he could defeat anybody in a debate, so often, and i saw this myself, when he would vanquish someone in a policy argument, he was the first person after that to reach out a hand of friendship or offer an arm around the shoulder of someone who he had just defeated in a contest. why? because it wasn't about winning the policy. it wasn't about at the end of the day really the policy

arguments. it was about the people. and charlie loved vigorous debate. he loved people more. that is the legacy of our friend. a lot of things have been said about him. when someone is on the air, when their voice in all forms of media all the time, 24 hours a day, you can go cherry pick one line or phrase or something they said in a long context or long discuss and you can pick anything out and make someone portray them to be something they were not. the people doing that did not know charlie kirk. all of us who did will attest every single person who spent any time with charlie kirk will tell you that he was a good and godley man. not a perfect man. none of us are. there was only one ever perfect man, he was god and man. charlie kirk was a good man who loved his fellow man and gave his life, literally, in the pursuit of advancing truth. so the very least that we can do

is honor him. especially at a time in the country when people are anxious and frightened, and moments like this, when political instability and fear are pervasive, it's incumbent upon leaders to step forward and stand in the breach and do what is right. so by votinger for this resolution today you are making a strong statement on behalf of the congress. we are telling our constituents for one thing that political violence, also the glorification and celebration of that violence are profoundly wrong. that goes against everything we stand for as americans. charlie stood for exactly the opposite. he stood for what was good in america. what is virtuous. worthy of protection and preservation. and we honor his memory by doing this simple act of passing this resolution. i can't imagine that anyone would vote against it or vote present or pretend as though this is not exactly the right thing to do. i certainly hope we can pass this resolution unanimously today just as it should be

passed. and i thank again my dear friend and colleague, congressman andy biggs of arizona, our hearts go out to the people of arizona as they do to everyone who is mourning this death. but i will tell you this, the truth that charlie advanced will go forward. more loudly and more profoundly than it ever has before. that's the encouragement we have. with that, i yield back. mr. biggs: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. garcia: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. biggs: i yield one minute to the gentleman from louisiana, the majority leader, my friend, mr. steve scalise. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from louisiana is recognized for one minute mr. scalise: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend from arizona for yielding. mr. speaker, we still have heavy hearts. we are still mourning the loss of our friend charlie kirk. who was such an inspirational

leader to millions across this country. as we have seen since his horrific assassination, he inspired not only people here in america, but all around the world. as you see the outpouring of love. charlie was a man who had so much love for the people. he had love for our country. charlie talked about why it was so important that we debate our differences. something that shouldn't be a novel issue, mr. speaker. something that is part of the foundation of what makes this country great and unique. what separates america from so many other failed examples of government because we are that experiment in self-governs and democracy and part of that -- self-governance and democracy and part that have is we'll have disagreements and we'll have the ability to express those disagreements with each other, but in a civil way. in a way where it doesn't lead

to political violence. and in times like this, we reflect on a lot of things, but more than anything, mr. speaker, we lean on our faith. charlie kirk had tremendous faith. i look above the speaker's russ hysterectomy, right there in the people's house, in god we trust. it's times like this where we really do need to trust in god because god knows the answers. charlie believed strongly in god. and that faith in god is what will get us through tough times like this. in fact, charlie talked a number of times about how he would want to be remembered. he talked about how he would want to be remembered for his courage and his faith. and what an example he was for faith. for so many young people. you look at come ledge campuses across this -- college campuses across this country right now

and you see mourning. but you see more young people driven to get involved in this process. turning point has had requests from over 50,000 people since charlie kirk's assassination to start new chapters on college or high school campuses. this movement that charlie started is just getting started. it will only grow. his incredibly strong widow, erika, just named the head of turning point, to continue that legacy has vowed to make sure that what charlie stood for, what he represented, the movement that charlie kirk built will endure. it will grow. and it will continue to inspire millions more people to want to get involved in government. want to question leadership, want to maybe question their own views, the things they might

have been taught by people in schools that had ulterior novice that might have been trying to indoctrinate them to some other viewpoint so now they have the power and courage to think for themselves. how powerful is that? those are the things that charlie left behind that will endure, mr. speaker. this resolution is so important to remember that legacy, remember that this was a young man. still a young man. but even younger at 18, a young student with an idea that said, what's happening in the schools is wrong. what needs to be taught is something broader. we need to get back to respect for each other's differences of opinion. and that's what drove him to start a movement. at such a young age. let all young people be inspired by that recognition that the

power of ideas still can move a nation. that's what charlie kirk reminded all of us. mr. speaker, we are never, never going to forget that. we are never going to forget the legacy of charlie kirk. but that legacy will live on and only grow stronger. god bless you, charlie kirk. yield back. mr. biggs: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. biggs: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. cloud: thank you. as i heard the news, the horrific news, of the assassination of charlie kirk i was on my way to speak to a group of pastors who came here to fourth capitol and take in our belove -- tour the capitol and take in our beloved national capitol and i couldn't help in that moment to be reminded of hebrews 11 which people

understand tonight hall of fame of 108th. it goes through the chapter and explains all the great feats of faith. people like abraham, moses, sampson, and david t talks but-b how they through faith conquered kingdoms and ministered justice, gained what was promised. then it goes on, and it continues, there were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so they may gain an even better resurrection. some faced years in flogs and chains and imprison. it goes on to say the world was not worthy of them. the world was not worthy of charlie kirk. he spoke truths we understand we can build a life upon, but he also understood there were truths we could build a nation upon. he more than anything conveyed those things with clarity and especially to a generation who had been taught moreltism and truth could not be found. he spoke very clearly and with compassion and human dignity. above all beyond the courage, beyond his faith and beyond his

policy, he had the courage. courage to make a difference. courage to stand. and i hope that we continue with that same courage as we continue to serve the people of this great nation. let's remember his family as well. god bless. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. biggs: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from north carolina, mr. harris. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for one minute. mr. harris: thank you for yielding. .. one side celebrates the murder of a patriot and the other remembers the beauty of speaking and thinking clearly. we're headed towards a precipice with no return. if we can't even agree murder is wrong, we've moved beyond politics. we're debating whether society itself should survive. the shooter last week wanted to silence charlie, not just silence him but everything he

represents, faith, family, and freedom. folks are beginning to speak up and take a stand against evil for good. there are real threats to all that makes america great. in the face of evil ideologies that choose violence, villainization and hate, we must choose a different path, one charlie chose, that of civil discourse and love our neighbors. mr. speaker, charlie understood freedom is only one generation away from extinction so he ignited a love 6 country and god in a younger generation inspiring us all as he did so. maybe today's vote be a small symbol of an awakening taking place across our nation. i yield back. mr. biggs: reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. biggs: i yield to ms. boebert of colorado for one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. boebert: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you to the gentleman from arizona for honoring our friend, charlie kirk. it's truly been a troubling week. it's been a very tough time for all of us, especially for erika kirk, charlie's children, the family at turning point, and the legacy that charlie has left behind is truly remarkable. charlie is leaving a legacy that we will all continue to carry on and move forward with, of faith, of freedom, of love, of our constitutional values to have civil conversations, disagreements, and it's interesting that my friend died doing what he loved most, hearing people, loving people, giving them the opportunity to

speak their thoughts. he literally gave people his platform. we're honoring the life and legacy of charlie kirk, a courageous american patriot whose unwavering faith and love for jesus inspired millions. mr. biggs: yield an additional 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for an additional minute. ms. boebert: charlie's love of jesus guided his life in his fearless proclamation of the gospel. his assassination was a tragic loss but his legacy endures calming us to speak with courage and stand firm in faith. charlie, we love you. erika, we stand with you. we congratulate you on your new position. and may many, many more come to know the love of god and jesus as their lord through this heinous act.

i yield. mr. biggs: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. biggs: may i inquire how much time we have? 18 1/2 minutes. that's beautiful. with that i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of the resolution honoring the life and legacy of charlie kirk. mr. pfluger: charlie was a man of god, a loving husband and a father -- and an unrelenting advocate for free speech and his belief, christian belief. i had the honor of knowing charlie but also served with charlie on the air force board of visitors. we started our meeting and talked about patriots and we asked a question. his question to the air force academy was, do you teach a

course on american exceptionalism? do you teach a course on loving this country on why it's the greatest country in the world? because he said these men and women who are about to graduate and be commissioned as officers in the air and space force who are willing to give their lives in the defense of this country should know why they love this country. but should know why it's the greatest country on earth and why they're willing to die for it. i thought it was an incredible question. we toured the air force academy chapel. and i'm going to challenge our department of war. i'm going to challenge our country to finish that chapel as a symbol of the spiritual aspect of this country. and i'm going to challenge everyone that hasn't watched charlie's message about how this country was founded on christian principles to watch that, to learn about the founding of this country and the spiritual roots.

and that air force academy chapel, now having been delayed for almost eight or nine years is important to finish so we can get that spiritual aspect back in the lives of our military, our war fighters and those graduating. charlie, we love you. your legacy will stand firm in our minds, and i'm absolutely convinced that your legacy will have a lasting impact on this country. i yield back. mr. biggs: mr. speaker, i'm prepared to close. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from california. mr. garcia: no additional speakers and i'm prepared to close as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from arizona is recognized to close. mr. biggs: thank you, mr. speaker. and i'll just -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. does the gentleman from california close or reserve. mr. garcia: yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona is recognized. mr. biggs: thank you, mr. speaker. we've heard a lot about charlie

kirk, and rightfully so. and we heard this important resolution today and i mentioned our love and prayers to charlie's wonderful wife, erika, and their children. erika said the other day when she was speaking, she said that this mission, this program that charlie was undertaking was not going to be stopped because of his aassassination, that it was going to grow bigger and stronger and that it would be unleashed even more. and so i'll just point out that what's happened in the last few days as i've been in contact with my other friends at turning point, more than 50,000 new chapters have been applied for all over the country. and i'll just describe it as a

mid atlantic university, they had their initial interest meeting and had more than 100 students show up at that. that's what's happening around this country. and this tragedy out of tragedy has been born i think a hope and an understanding not just for the theological or religiosity charlie brought forward but for the hope of american renewal and the greatness of this nation. so that's important. i extend my condolences and my friendship also to the turning point u.s.a. family. i know many of them. and his team, those that were closest to charlie, some who were there when he was assassinated. i give them my heartfelt love and wish them strength as they go through and try to cope with this new dynamic in their lives.

but their mission goes on. you saw the outpouring from around the world, from tokyo and seoul and spain to london, literally hundreds of thousands and maybe even millions of people coming out to recognize what charlie was and what he was was somebody with conviction and what he believed as far as his faith, his belief in family. he used to advocate for families and said the greatest thing you do. and he would tell young people this, get married, have children, and he encouraged people to have a good life and that was important. but he also believed in this country and this country allows more people to do more like that than anywhere else. and that's why we remember him so today. and it's my hope and i join my hope with the speaker of the house of representatives that this resolution passes in a

unanimous fashion. so mr. speaker, but yield back the balance of my time. god bless charlie. the speaker pro tempore: the balance of all time has been yielded back. pursuant to house resolution 722, the previous question is ordered on the resolution and reamable. the question is on the resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the resolution is agreed to. mr. biggs: mr. speaker, i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. proceedings will resume on questions previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order. passage of h.r. 3062, h.r. 3015, and h.r. 1047. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. and remaining votes conducted as

five-minute votes. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the vote on passage of h.r. 3062 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 3062, a bill to establish a more uniform, transparent, and modern process to modernize the construction, connection, and operation and maintenance of international border crossing facilities for the import and export of oil and natural gas and transmission of electricity. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on passage of the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

self-interest. and this legislation actually does that because it doesn't allow them to select their voters. it actually requires them to go through a fair process. again, my name is virginia solomon. i am the president and ceo of common cause, and our organization is the lobbying group for the people of this country.

we have membership in every congressional district in the united states and common cause has proudly led redistricting efforts throughout the country for decades. we fought for a fair maps all the way up to the supreme court. if you remember the case roadshow becoming cause in north carolina, that was us. we brought independent redistricting commission to california and to states throughout the country. and that really has been the gold standard for redistricting. and we're here today to continue the growing movement for fair maps, fair elections and fair representation. but it means we need to tell the truth and the reality is that for far too long, a lot of its politicians have been rigging the game in favor of themselves or their parties, and they've carved up communities, drawn maps in backrooms and used their power to protect themselves, not

the people they were elected to serve. gerrymandering has robbed voters of their voices time and time again, and it has poisoned trust in our democracy. and that stops here and now with this legislation. and so we hope that our republican members of congress will also join in in supporting this legislation. not only are we proud to stand by this because it will put the power in the back, in the hands of the people. but the best part of it is that the american people are actually with us. we released a new poll last week and that made it very crystal clear for us. 84% of voters say fair district lines are vital to the health of our democracy. that's not a margin. that is a mandate. 77% want independent commissions to draw maps.

voters don't trust politics, listens to grade their own homework. 78% say community interests, not political advantage, should come first because people want their neighborhoods, their towns, their voices to matter, not just those of party insiders. and 60% reject midday mid-decade redistricting because voters see this for what it is as a power grab. and these aren't partizan talking points there. the american people direct leave from this poll. speaking loud and clear from texas to california, from illinois to florida, democrats, republicans, independents across the board. voters want fairness, transparency and accountability. because let's be clear, gerrymandering is nothing more than voter suppression with a different name. it silences voices, it fractures communities. it rigs elections before a single ballot is even cast. and the redistricting reform act

of 2025 is how we fix it. so today we are calling on congress to pass this bill for every voter whose voice will be left out. the people are ready. we are united and we are watching. thank you. and now i am introducing representative mark veasey, betsy of texas. good afternoon. how are you all doing? mark veasey from texas. i represent the 33rd congressional district, which includes dallas and fort worth. then i want to be clear about something i want to be clear about why we are here. the reason why we are here is because donald trump and republicans are scared. donald trump and republicans are afraid and scared of the growing number of black and latino and asian citizens in the state of texas. donald trump and their and his republican allies, they are afraid of the damage that they are about to cause on this

country. with the passage of their big, ugly bill and donald trump and his republican people, no, that the american public are against their billionaire agenda, that they are trying to impose on this country and they are afraid that the american people will take that displeasure straight to the ballot box. that is why donald trump ordered republican governors across legislatures and across the country to silence black and brown voices instead, states like mine, which is texas and spineless governors all over the south and other places are bowing to this want to be dictate. instead of standing up for their constituencies that are rejecting mid-decade redistricting and i want you to make no mistake about it. the reason again, why they are scared is because bills are going up. inflation is going up.

unemployment is going up. housing is going up. food prices are going up. all while republicans are trying to take away people's health care. that is a recipe for electoral disaster and that is why republicans are discriminating against black and brown voters and exhibiting this blatant power grab that is unconstitutional because they are afraid that their agenda is unpopped. buehler they know they cannot win on policy, so they are rigging the election before a single vote is even cast. these schemes are racist. these schemes are unconstitutional. and as was pointed out by my colleague from north carolina, they are jim crow. like and they take us back to an era that we don't want to return to in this country. let me just give you some facts on taxes really quickly. if you go back and you look at

redistricting in 2020, 2021, after the 20 numbers came out, almost all of the growth in the state of texas was because of latino, black and asian growth. that is why we picked up the additional seats that we did. that's why we picked up the additional four seats that we did the decade before. but now, if you look at what's happened, latino voters statewide now have one fourth of the power that white voters do. it's blatant racist. it's blatantly intentional. what they're trying to do in this discrimination zone and we are not going to quietly let republicans drag us back to pre 1960s voting rights act levels. we are absolutely not going to allow that to happen. we are going to fight that. and so that is why i am so proud to stand here today with my colleague from california, zoe lofgren, and pushing the reform act because we want to guarantee

nation wide nonpartisan redistricting where everybody i don't care what race you are. i don't care what state. i don't care who's in power. we want everybody to play by the same rules, period. end of story. we want to make sure that every voice, even voices that may not agree with me. we want to make sure that every voice across this great land is heard and we are not going to allow donald trump and republicans to play these games and take this country back again to a place where it was before the voting rights act was passed in this country. we are simply not going to allow it to happen. and so with that, i want to introduce to the podium another strong warrior when it comes to protecting voting rights in this country from california's 12th congressional district.

congresswoman for assignment. thank you, sir. thank you all. and i want to thank our current u.s. leaders, though, lofgren, for bringing us all here today. and, of course, senator padilla. congresswoman la grande has been just a steadfast leader for democracy for decades. and thank you so much for pushing this opportunity forward for the democrats and the republicans to honor our democracy. i think we need to actually be very, very clear in this moment. trump and republic pence have already stolen the voice of voters in texas. their stealing the vote, the voices of voters in missouri. and we cannot sit with our arms folded and let that lapse in democracy when in california we are fighting back. and this november voters will have the opportunity to move forward. prop 52 stand up, to stand up for fairness and to protect the principles of equal representation. but, you know, in the long term,

we all know that we need to have fairness. s in districts in all 50 states. we need a nationwide system, a prom is independent redistricting so that republican and fair and democratic attempts to redistrict will never. happen again. that is why i am so proud. i am so proud to stand here with my colleagues and support the reforming the redistricting reform act because we have to fight literally for the woman right now. the mom that is sitting in a children's hospital waiting room hoping that her daughter, who is fighting for her life, was second stage cancer can continue in her clinical trial at this administration continues to cut funding from nih. we have to fight for the researchers who are this close to curing sickle cell research. but again, our administration is stalling research funding with this opportunity.

what we will do is restore the voices for all americans. we cannot afford to go back to a 1950s america where voters don't have the opportunity to lift their voices and to select their leaders. again, i want to thank you so for your leadership. and we can do the right thing. thank you all so much. we have lose. she's cheating on jimmy panetta. my good. thank you. and please excuse the lack of jacket, but i think all of us understand. let me express my appreciation to zo lofgren for leading this charge as she does on so many issues. and let me just kind of mention one thing. look, when our founders formulated this country, they did everything they could to get away from one person rule. but what we're seeing right now is one person ruling out of the white house by diktat. and what that's leading to and causing is what we're experiencing today as a

democracy. corruption, incompetence, cuts to care and high cost. now, these policy fees that are coming out of the white house are tremendously unpopped. buehler and the president understands that. so it's exactly why the president leaned in to the states that have been mentioned today and basically leaned in to the governors in the legislature and the legislators who bent the knee to him, who basically gerrymander hard. and they said, you guys are 224, the nays are 203. the bill is passed. without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the vote on passage of h.r. 3015 of which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 150.

h.r. 3015. a bill to re-establish the national coal council in the department of energy to provide advice and recommendations to the secretary of energy on matters related to coal and the coal industry and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the passage of the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five sploint. -minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

are 203. the bill, mr. vice president, how are you? i'll let you know in about 39 minutes. i i'm good, tim. it's good to see you. thank you for having me. yeah, of course. it's been a crazy couple of weeks here. i want to start, obviously, with the charlie kirk assassination. you know, following the shooting last week, president trump had been given several opportunities to call for healing and to bring down the temperature. but instead, he largely responded by blaming the quote unquote, radical left and basically blaming the left for all that ails the country, including political violence. and i don't know if you were surprised by that necessarily by his response, but were you

bothered by it? well, again, thanks. thanks for having me here. and i want to thank the atlanta festival all and thank you all for the warm welcome. a new charlie kirk. met him in the campaign in 2016. it's a dynamic young man, a good, godly young man, devoted husband and father of two beautiful young children. and as i sit here today, i'm just heartsick about what happened last week. i understand the anger that so many feel around the country, including, i think, the president. but there is no place in america for political violence. and it should be universal. he condemned.

i want to commend law enforcement in utah to i spoke yesterday to governor spencer cox, who i think really distinguished himself in a thoughtful way that he articulated the efforts of utah law enforcement working with federal officials to, um, to be able to apprehend the perpetrator of the crime within 33 hours was a great credit to law enforcement at every level, but also a great credit to the good people of utah who responded quickly and admirably. and the bible says you mourn with those who mourn and grieve with those who grieve. and i think it's important that in the wake of this national tragedy, that we take time simply to grieve the loss of life that occurred here.

but i also believe we need to resist the temptation to put america on trial. i mean, absent any additional evidence, one man was responsible for the assassination of charlie kirk. that man is now in custody. and now comes justice. and while with this rising tide of political violence that we've seen on both sides of the aisle, i understand the deep concern. i don't think we ever want to lose sight of the fact of personal responsibility and the need for every american to to focus on holding those accountable who would perpetrate this violence in the name of politics or for any other reason. now, all that being said, it's, you know, charlie kirk probably

had some differences with people in this room. i probably do, too. no, but that's okay. no, i said he was a champion of freedom of speech. he went, as i've sought to do since i left office. he went to campuses. it was a year and a half ago. i was at the uvu campus speaking with students at george mason university who just yesterday. it's been a great joy for me. but he he took that case that can serve it of use case to campuses everywhere. and he was in a very real sense, he was a champion for the freedom of speech. and i truly do believe that we need to make sure that part of his legacy is a continuation of the vitality of freedom of speech for every american for years to come. well, let's let's talk about freedom of speech, mr. vice

president. i'm sure you saw the news last night that jimmy kimmel's abc show was pulled indefinitely after the fcc chairman, brendan carr, made sort of a mafioso threat to go after the network in response to kimmel's remarks about the assassination. now, the substance of those remarks from kimmel aside and to be clear, he was wrong, flat out wrong factually. isn't the first amendment at risk when the fcc chairman tries to intimidate a news network over content that he personally disagrees with or that the state disagrees with? well, the first amendment of the constitution protects against government. a censorship of individuals and and we ought ever to be vigilant to ensure the right of every american to express their views. without government interference or censorship. the first amendment, though, does not protect entertainers

who say crass or thoughtless things, as jimmy kimmel did in the wake of a national tragedy and private employers have every right to dismiss employees, whether they're television talk show hosts or otherwise. if they violate the standards of that company. now, i, i would have preferred that the chairman of the fcc had not weighed in. that's yeah, that's the. but i, i respect the right of the networks to make the decision. and it's not personal for me. i, i don't think jimmy kimmel ever had a kind word to say about me and once apologized for something he said about me on the air. but that's not the point. the point in this case is that in the wake of a heartbreaking tragedy impacting people across the country, that he would he would act in such a callous and

thoughtless way. and i respect the right of his employer to make that decision. i think that speech is important, though. and i you know, the other part of this is, you know, i have long believed that democracy depends on heavy doses of civility. 17 the yeas are 217, the nays are 209.eas are 217, the nays the bill is passed, without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the house will be in order. the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house out of order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

mr. jeffries: i rise today to celebrate bob bishop. a proud -- i rise so celebrate bob, a product of south buffalo and the incredible manager of the democratic cloakroom. on his well-deserved retirement

after almost four decades of serving the people's house. in 1987, bob came to congress, not knowing how long he would stay or what kind of mark he would leave. on this institution. but the lord works in mysterious ways. and we are here today as members of congress to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation for his distinguished contributions and dedication to this institution, the people's house, for nearly four decades. in fact, after almost four decades of service, here in the people's house, it is clear to me, other than his family, the only entity that bob loves more than the house of representatives is the buffalo

bills. who in fact are playing tonight. the work that we do as members of congress exists in the public domain. but the american people don't often get to see folks like bob, who keep this place running. and support the hundreds of representatives and our staff with whatever we need. whether that's providing updates to our offices, wrangling members to make sure we're present for votes, sharing information in real time, we can't do our jobs on behalf of the people without the cloakroom. and bob has been the one who has kept the cloakroom humming. with a steady hand, patience, expertise, professional. i and heart and soul.

even through the terror and chaos of january 6. bob was a calm and comforting presence, bravely helping to ensure that members of congress were safely evacuated off the floor. thank you for your courage and your heroism on that fateful d day. bob is one of the unsung heros of the united states congress. so it's especially fitting that he shares a name with one of the greatest unsung heros in nba history, robert horry. who was known as big shot bob. robert horry was not a flashy

player but he's someone who played the game the right way, had an uncanny ability to make the right plays at the right moment, including in the nba championships when all was on the line. he never was elevated along with folks like michael jordan or magic johnson, or lebron james. but what's interesting is that michael jordan had six championships. magic johnson had f.y. championships. lebron james had four championships. but robert horry had seven. more than any of them. because he was always at the right place, the right time, with the right moves. the glue that made these team into champions. that's what bob has done for the house democratic caucus.

make the right play. at the right time. to ensure that the team is delivering results for the american people. i know i speak for all of us as members of the house democratic caucus when i say that big shot bob fisher will be missed by all of us. bob's family is here with us including his wife, julie, children, christy and emily, and parents robert and kathy. thank you for sharing. thank you for sharing your husband, your dad, and your son, with us for the last 39 years. bob, congratulations on a well-deserved retirement. it's now my great honor to yield to our great speaker emerita,

nancy dell sandro pelosi. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm pleased to join you in gratitude to bob fisher for decades, decades of service to the congress, many of those decades as i was speaker or leader. so i know firsthand how indebted we are to you. i join the distinguished leader in saluting bob's family and thanking them as you did for sharing bob with us. because as all of our staff who is here knows, you never know when it's going to be a late night or additional saturday or whatever it is. thank you so much for that. today we celebrate and thank bob fisher for his extraordinary service in the house of representatives, especially the house democrats cloakroom where he's been a trusted presence for decades you know that, my colleagues. bob's journey began with a leap

of faith after a spur of the moment decision in 1987, he followed the footsteps of his hometown mentor, door keeper bob malloy. that's a legendary name for those of you who have been here a long time. and found his way to washington. it was supposed to be a short stay in washington, it became home and bob became a fixture on capitol hill. bob joined the cloakroom staff in 1993 and through consistency, commitment and professional. i, earned the confidence of members, staff and colleagues. in the years since he's been a trusted adviser, a problem solver, a calm presence, for intense moments. a resource for countless members who rely on him and he was a valued part of my team and now the speaker's leadership team as well.

bob's work in the cloakroom has gone beyond logistical support. he built relationshipfuls. built trust. built continuity in a world that's ever changing. he became the go-to guy. but most importantly as his colleagues know well, bob did it all with, again, grace, professional. i, and good humor and whether he was explaining floor procedures, is that hannah? marjorie? that's hannah. they're precious. whether he was explaining floor procedures, helping members navigate the often complex legislative day, or flipping on tv to the buffalo sabres games, bob's departure now is bittersweet for us. we're sad to see him go but we are grateful, deeply grateful, for what he contributed and for the legacy he leaves behind. bob has always sustained not

just the function of the house but the spirit of service. and as we honor bob, let that be a message to all the staff who serve us that we appreciate what you do for the american people and for our democracy. thank you all. [applause] he's made the cloakroom of this house a better place, done it quietly, responsibly, without fanfare. that kind of service is often invisible but it is indispensable. he strengthened the very fabric of the house. we admire not only his work but the spirit of loyalty and friendship he brought here. before i congratulate bob i want to acknowledge congressman tim kennedy for what he did in honor of bob fisher's name is to have dinsmore street in buffalo, new york, named bob fisher way. thank you.

congratulations, bob, and thank you. we wish you the very best in whatever comes next. but please know you'll be very missed. please do not be a stranger to us. let us all be grateful for the legacy of leadership of bob fisher. thank you so much. mr. jeffries: mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: congratulations, bob. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the vote on passage of h.r. 1047 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill.

the clerk: union calendar number 251, h.r. 1047, a bill to require the federal energy regulatory commission to reform the interconnection queue process for certain projects and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the passage of the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

are 209. the bill acknowledged that political violence is not new. it has happened at certain periods in our history. but it is something that it is anathema to. what it means to be a democratic country. and regardless of what regardless of where you are. on the political spectrum, what happened to charlie kirk was

horrific and a tragedy. what happened, as you mentioned to the state legislators in minnesota. that is a horrific it is a tragedy and there are no ifs, ands or buts about it. that that the central premise of our of our democratic system is, is that we have to be able to disagree and have sometimes really contentious debates without resort to violence and. and when when it happens to some buddy, even if you think they're, quote unquote, on the other side of the argument, that's a threat to all of us. and we have to be clear and forthright in condemning.

now. that doesn't mean that we can't have a debate about the ideas that. people who are victims of political violence were promoting. and so i've noticed that there's been some confusion. i think, around this lately. and frankly, coming from the white house and some of the other positions of authority that suggest. even before we had determined who the perpetrator of this evil act was, that somehow. we're going to identify an enemy.

we're going to suggest that somehow that enemy was at fault. and we are then going to use that as a rationale for trying to silence discussion around. who we are as a country and what direction we should go. and that's a mistake as well. and and so look, i. know obviously i didn't know charlie kirk. i was generally aware of some of his ideas. i think those ideas were wrong. but that but that doesn't negate the fact that what happened was a tragedy and that i mourn for him and his family. he's a young man with two small

children and a wife who obviously and a huge number of friends and supporters who cared about him. and so we have to extend grace to people during their period of mourning and shock. we can also, at the same time say that. i disagree with the idea that the civil rights act of 1964 was a mistake. that's not that's not me politicizing the issue. it's it's making an observation about who are we as a country. i can say that i disagree with the suggestion that my wife. or justice jackson does not have

adequate brain processing power, saying the nays are 206. the bill is passed. and without objection, the motion tohe table. the house will be in order.

the chair will now entertain requests for one smiefns. for what purpose does the gentleman from -- for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: mr. speaker, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize national teach ag day. national teach ag day celebrates school-based agricultural education. today we share the importance and effectiveness of ag education in the united states that encourages students to consider careers as agricultural educators. mr. speaker, our ag educators are responsible for cultivating, inspiring the next generation of agricultural leaders. they prepare students to be

problem solvers, leaders, entrepreneurs and more. and this happens in the classroom with extension programs for groups like f.f.a. or 4-f. by recognizing our agricultural educators, we can ensure our students have knowledge and exposure to all the opportunities the ag sector has to offer. mr. speaker, i thank all the ag teachers and volunteers across the country who help propel students into meaningful careers that support our nation's farmers, ranchers, foresters and producers. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from massachusetts seek recognition? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. clark: i rise to bid farewell to my senior floor advisor, an alum in a of -- alumna of teams jayapal, mcbath

and pelosi. the one and only, the incomparable allison blankenship. the last few years have been some of the most unpredictable in the history of this chamber. and throughout all of it, allison has been a constant joyful guiding light. from the longest speech in house history, to the longest vote, allison has skillfully navigated the unprecedented. she's powered through all-nighters with a smile, with pride and always with helpful information. because above all, she is driven by a love of country, a love of justice, and a love of this institution and its people. to allison, we thank you. we wish you all the best on your next chapter and please know we will not forget you and we hope

you will not forget us. thank you, allison. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to celebrate a movement that's transforming the landscape of youth sports across america. girls flag football. mr. wied: recently chloe, a student at appleton north high school, reached out to my office so share a petition she started calling on the wisconsin interscholastic athletic association to recognize girls flag football as a sanctioned sport. at appleton north high school and across the fox cities, girls are suiting up for flag football. not just for the love of the game, but to claim their rightful place on the field. though currently recognized only as a club sport, these athletes

are showing grit, leadership and talent. today over 17 states have sanctioned girls flag football as a varsity sport and countless others are piloting programs that give young women the chance to compete, lead and thrive on the field. with support growing nationwide from college scholarships to nfl partnerships, states like florida and georgia have already made girls flag football a varsity sport. wisconsin should be next. these young women deserve the same opportunities, resources and recognition as their peers. i urge my colleagues to support this momentum and ensure every girl has the chance to chase greatness, one flag at a time. mr. speaker, thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, t the gentleman from

new york is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, the 16th district of new york is lucky to have an education-first facility located in tarrytown. mr. latimer: during the august work period, i had the opportunity to tour the international language campus and speak with young people from over 60 countries who were in tarrytown to learn english. this location in our district is one of several dozen education-first campuses around the world. they have collaborated with the u.n. to create a joint global summer school program. in addition to physical schools, they also have the world's largest online language school. these programs are designed to help english language learners pick up the language quickly for attending school, or starting a new job. it can be hard to be in a new place, learning a new language. i applaud the courage and openness of these new students for coming to the united states and meeting students from other countries. our world is stronger because of cultural exchanges like this one and it does a heck of a lot for

the local economy in tarrytown. thank you very much, mr. speaker. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from indiana is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to highway light the work of mr. jeff mittman and congratulate him on his appointment by president trump to serve as a member of the u.s. ability one commission. mr. stutzman: mr. mittman served 22 years in the u.s. army until an i.e.d. ended his service and caused him to lose his vision. despite this sacrifice, mr. mittman made it a mission to move forward and overcome the challenges his life presented. as one of many accomplishments in 2019, mr. mittman became the first legally blind president and c.e.o. of bosma enterprise, the largest employer for people who are blind in indiana. beyond that, mr. mittman also serves as the president of the

national association for the employment of people who are blind. even after losing so much, mr. mittman considers himself the luckiest man alive. his responses to adversity serves as an inspiring lesson to all of us. indiana's fortunate to have benefited from his unwavering sense of hope and leadership in our community. no one is more deserving than mr. mittman for this appointment and i'm truly excited to see such an inspiring hoosier serve on the ability one commission. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. frankel: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise with joy to celebrate a very special milestone. on august 24, 1925, in brooklyn, new york, my mother came into the world and this summer marked

her 100th birthday. still healthy, sharp and still the life of the party. and really today, this day she's my best supporter, my best friend, always on my side. at 100, she plays a fierce game of bridge, rummy q, and bingo. always with a quick wit and a competitive spirit intact and she still turns on the news every day and she worries about her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and she reminds us that age is not a limit, but a badge of wisdom, resilience and spirit. so today i honor my mother, not just for reaching a century of life but phil fulfilling every -- but fulfilling every one of those years with strength, laughter and unwavering love for her family. she's my inspiration and i'm so proud to celebrate her extraordinary journey. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields.

for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. lamalfa: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr. speaker. well, the gray wolf has made full recovery in the united states. and has been for some time. yet with the introduction of more and more wolves into the rural areas, you get results like this. with cattle losses, as well as the wildlife in the area being devastated. you got activist lawsuits that have kept wolves on the list long past the point of recovery. the result is indeed devastating for rural america. the great lakes and rocky mountain regions, wolf populations are in the tens of thousands. these predators kill livestock, pets, costing ranchers their livelihoods. some years usda reports losses of nearly 5,000 cattle and sheep. they're wiping out the wildlife in colorado and my area of northern california too. families who work hard shouldn't have to live in fear that the

next attack will be on their herds or their kids or themselves. just in recent months, they've lost 80 head of livestock. ranchers in rural areas must be able to defend their property and themselves, including with lethal force when necessary. indeed, the wolves are untouchable because the protections are so strong you can't even defend yourself or your land. ineffective hazing is what is allowed and you can't hardly disturb the wolves. so we must delist them. u.s. fish and wildlife listed them years ago, now they need to go through the delisting process because the wolf has fully recovered. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? mr. davis: mr. speaker, i ask for unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for one minute. mr. davis: mr. speaker, i rise with a heavy heart to honor the life of reverend dr. thomas

lorenzo walker, a longtime minister, community activist, gospel artist, author and dedicated public servant. after graduating from university, reverend walker pastored at ebenezer babbtivity church -- baptist church for nearly 55 years. he was a great gospel artist known for his hit, "one day at a time." he authored "brother to brother,. reverend walker served 12 years on the board of commissioners, residents now drive across a bring named after him on west raleigh boulevard, a reminder of the bridges he built linking counties in eastern north carolina. reverend walker advocated for youth voting rights and prostate screenings which he was a survivor. he was honored with our state's prestigious service award and inducted into the twin county hall of fame. we mourn his passing, honor his

legacy, and extend our deepest condolences to his family. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from arizona is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to commemorate the lives of brenna and damon of the timber mesa fire and medical district. on sunday, these brave firefighters lost their lives in the line of duty. following a head-on collision while returning. although i had not met damon, i knew brenna, and my heart goes out to all those who are grieving this loss. mr. crane: please continue to pray for their families and the white mountain region as they mourn this tragedy. as the community gathers in remembrance and gratitude, brenna and damon will be

escorted back to arizona and welcomed home as heroes. we are all forever grateful for their dedication and service to their fellow arizonans. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from georgia seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the retirement of a national park service employee in my district, ann hunnas. mrs. mcbath: since 2020, she served as the director of the area in sandy springs and has been a vital partner in our community, working hand in hand with my office, the couple we areland c.i.d. and the chattahoochee national park

conservancy as we work to break ground and cut the ribbon on the nodded palisades project. thanks to ann's leadership, our community continues to preserve and advance the legacy of president carter's bold vision for a beloved national resource. i offer my gratitude to ann for her devotion to our national public lands and celebrate her distinguished career in service to this country. on behalf of my office, georgia's sixth congressional district, and the united states house of representatives, congratulations and best wishes in your retirement. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from vermont seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman from vermont is recognized for one minute. ms. balint: over at the centers for medicare and medicaid, dr. oz, that guy, decided to

curb waste by letting the government use a.i. to decide if your medical procedure is necessary. that means for-profit companies will use botz to deny care for seniors and working people and will get rich doing it your expense. right now that's over 70 million americans who rely on medicare and medicaid for their insurance. if there's one thing that americans agree on right now, it's that our health care system is sick. our premiums are too high. our access is shrinking. we are all enraged by a system that's already designed to deny us health care coverage. not make us healthier. our system care is so perverse we don't need yet another way for the system to psychiatry us over. american december serve affordable, quality health care, and ai. should not be determining if you get health care. that's what democrats are fighting for. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlewoman yields. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman from ohio is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to recognize a local business leader and recipient of the 2025 national small business association small business advocate of the year award, dwayne gruel, as the third district's champion of the week. ms. sykes: last week he was here in town to be recognized for this award and his passion for uplifting small businesses. from mentoring entrepreneurs and connecting small businesses with essential resources, dwayne ties his success to the success of others. as an accomplished executive with over three decades of leadership and civil engineering experience, dwayne is the current c.e.o. and chairman of the board at environmental design group. he also sits on the board of directors for the greater akron

chamber and serves as inaugural chair of the alliance. dwayne understands that small businesses are the life blood of our communities and our economies and by empowering local business leaders we can shape more vibrant, resilient local economies. i want to extend my thank you to dwayne for reminding us that the birth place of champions, ohio's 13th district, is stronger when we succeed together. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from tennessee is recognized for one minute. mr. cohen: thank you, sir. we've talked at long length about the threat to democracy and the fear of an authoritarian lead for the washington. the time is now. the authoritarian leader, this administration, has surfaced. when the head of a communications company says that

a television personality's comments can cause a television station to -- should cause a television station to cancel his show and it happens, that's authoritarianism. when the government dictates -- dictate what is should and shouldn't be said on television and whether they should be punished, using the power of the government to suppress free speech. the president then followed up and said nbc should get rid of two of its late night shows. cbs has canceled their late night show. i don't know what johnny carson would think about all this, or jack paar. i'm sure alec baldwin wouldn't like it. president trump didn't like the way he treated him. chevy chase probably put him in bad positions too. comedy is comedy, free speech is free speech, we shouldn't step it on it. god bless the first amendment. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition?

without objection, the gentleman from michigan is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to talk about manufacturing. manufacturing is not just what we do in michigan, it is who we are. mr. thanedar: the big three automakers and america's middle class. but today, while we still lead in auto manufacturing, michigan faces some of the nation's highest unemployment rates. while families are struggling with rising costs. mr. trump promised to protect our -- tariffs would protect our jobs. instead they've driven up the cost of steel, aluminum and auto parts while plants closed and workers are left behind.

when a plant shuts down in detroit, it doesn't just hurt the workers inside it, it hurts every business, schools, and families. we need real solutions like job training, stronger unions, and building the future of mobility right here in detroit. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> address the house and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. desaulnier: i rise today as a survivor of stage four cancer to express my astonishment and object to the trump administration's cuts to american cancer research. over the last 50 years, five-year cancer survival rate for people like myself has risen from 49% to 68%. this is largely because of american taxpayers' investment in the brilliant researchers

that the national center -- cancer institute. the administration's cuts to national cancer institute spend big $842 million in its first seven months alone put that trend in jeopardy. just as return on investment this is astonishingly bad. for every $1 spent by american taxpayers at n.c.i., they get almost $3 back. experts warn we'll lose a generation of scientists because of this recklessness. i urge the administration and my republican colleagues to reverse course, maintain our global leadership, and work toward a better future for the 40% of americans who will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> to address the house and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new york is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, utility bills

are crushing upstate new yorkers. we've got seniors on fixed incomes who are cutting back on groceries, working parents cutting become on the cool clothes for their kids, just to keep the lights on. mr. riley: now the utility monopolies, owned by foreign corporations, are raising rates again. they're take manager and more money out of our pockets and sending it to foreign corporations to pad their profits. and they've been getting away with it for years because they hire lobbyists, grease politicians with corporate p.a.c. checks. when i say the system is rigged against the working class and for special interests, this is what i'm talking about. my keep he lates local act will pan foreign corporations from owning our utilities. upstate new yorkers who are already struggling to get by

shouldn't be paying dividends to people halfway around the world. keep our lights local, we're going to take our power back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. under the speaker's announced policy, the gentleman from texas, mr. roy, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. roy: i thank the speak, my friend from texas. i would note, just an observation, one of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle who is a cancer survivor and god bless him for it, was raising issues about government funding. about what funding should or shouldn't exist and what this administration may or may not be doing. to make sure our bureaucracies are running efficiently and effectively and not wasting money. i say this as a cancer survivor. stage three. hodgkins lymphoma. 13 years ago. look, i think research is

important. i think we need to make sure there's solid research. i think it can be driven heavily by the private sector who are incentivized to make money for developing life-saving drugs. but it can be done in concert with governments and universities. but what we don't need is continued profligate federal funding in order to achieve greatness. the wright brothers, henry ford, the great inventors, the great industrialists, the great innovators in technology. entrepreneurs out there. for the most part they're not doing that based on government funding action. they're doing it based on innovation and hard work. and that should be our model, our approach. so while i appreciate those who have gone through a terrible disease like cancer. as i did. as a number of people in this chamber, as millions of

americans across this country have done. it's not always a rationale for more government spending and more government action and more government bureaucracy. and i would note that the other colleague who came down and talked about high and rising energy prices, i too share some frustration about foreign-owned energy companies and utility companies. but i remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that our energy prices wouldn't be skyrocketing and off he charts had we not gone down the road, the foolish road of massive subsidies for the so-called green new deal which is more rightly called the green new scam. in which foreign companies, chinese companies, have been enriched because my colleagues on the other side of the aisle wanted to pursue their radical agenda. you want to know why prices of energy are going up? because of your policies. because of your mandates.

because of your e.v. mandates. because of your mandates about solar panels and wind farms that are far less efficient than nuclear. and clean burning natural gas. those things are driving up the price of energy for the average american, putting that money in the pocks of a handful of wealthy people and the chinese. congratulations. don't come whining to congress about dealing with high energy prices that you caused. and that's the truth. and the fact of the matter is, we need to do a lot better job on speaking truth here in this chamber. and i am reminded as a number of my colleagues were debating a resolution honoring a friend to many of us, charlie kirk, who as is well known now, lost his life last week. i am reminded of the importance of truth.

truth matters. charlie stood for the proposition that you should go into the public square and put forward your ideas. put forward what you believe is true. and then hash it out. and he did so eloquently, thoughtfully, and engagingly with people of all stripes. black, white, straight, gay, male, female, whatever it was. he would engage with people on campuses and around this country. to pursue truth. one of my favorite quotes one of my favorite quotes from thomas jefferson is, for here we are willing to pursue truth wherever it may lead. follow truth wherever it may lead. you also have to have the courage to speak truth.

charlie kirk when he was engaging with bill mahr just earlier this year said, and quote, in china and of course in the soviet union there was an anti-christian movement. very hardcore. what book do you think is best for humanity to live by? i say the bible. the entire arc of the bible is a story of love and a need for humanity's redemption. the bible has wisdom in ways you might not ever imagine. humanity will seek to find a book, they'll seek to find a code to live by. and i think it is incumbent upon atheists to tell us what that should be. speaking to bill maher. a skeptic. charlie kirk earlier this year in april, the mechanisms of a religious society are good for everybody. when somebody walks around and

thinks that you were created and that you're not god, you tend to have better citizens. charlie was not wrong. earlier this year, charlie kirk in a debate with an atheist, quote, i would argue you have a lot more faith than i do. you have a lot more blind faith to believe that everything around you, love, joy, peace, sadness is all just a construct of neurons firing in your brain. we as christians have hope that we are going to see our loved ones again. and that we will be in heaven and that we will be in perfect peace and that this is not it. in fact, there's something even better awaiting us. also earlier this year, also with bill maher, quote, the

greatest minds of history have been mesmerized by the scriptures. isaac newton. isaac newton wrote more about biblical prosy than even physics. there's something about the scriptures that are intellectual. that push your limits. and that's what i think is so beautiful about our faith. it can be accessible to everyone. but infinitely nourishing in exploration. earlier this year, charlie said about his goal of conservatism, he said, you have to try to point them toward ultimate purposes and toward getting back to the church. getting back to faith. getting married. having children. that is the type of conservativism that i represent. and i'm trying to paint a picture of virtue, of lifting

people up. in another exchange with bill maher. it defies reason to think that this is just a roll of the dice. when you see a baby come into the world, when you see how we naturally heal, when you see even consciousness itself. i think it is a pretty miraculous thing. to think that it's all just a bunch of happy accidents, i think it's more rational to think that it's a byproduct of design. four days before charlie was shot, he i think tweeted out, jesus defeated death so you can live. earlier this year charlie said, quote, i want to be remembered for courage for my faith. that would be the most important thing. the most important thing is my

faith. i could go further. my point of sharing these things is the importance of us standing up and speaking truth. people say, well, chip, how can you say it's truth, it's just what you believe when you talk about your faith? i of course believe it to be true. it is truth. jesus did die so that we may live. and jesus lives. it is important that we remember our nation's founding and our nation's convictions and the spirit that binds us together as a nation, actual spirit. in god we trust. we cannot be bound together as a nation if we do not adhere to a commonsense set of principles and values rooted in a

collective faith. a collective faith in god almighty. that does not mean that every individual has to believe anything specific. it doesn't mean that anybody has to go to church. it doesn't mean that we have to go around doing something in violation of the first amendment which says you can believe what you want to believe. but the first amendment also does not stand for the proposition that we should walk away from our collective faith. it does not do that. in nowhere in the first amendment does it say that. how does a nation conquer evil? how does a nation conquer nazi germany? imperial japan? the soviet union? was it all because we just got together and decided to put

together a military? or was there something bigger? was there something more important? was there a collective faith in the almighty that bound us together and gave us the courage for those young men to walk into a wall of bullets at normandy? people always ask me, what is wrong with our country? why is there so much division? when the nation turns its back on god, when the nation walks away from that collective faith, then do we really even have a nation? a lot of people keep branding charlie as a conservative activist. sure. he unapologetically advanced his definition of conservativism. but remember as i said, when he

tried to define that conservatism, he talked about it in the context of faith. he said, as i said a minute ago, you have to point them toward ultimate purposes and toward getting back to the church. getting back to faith. getting married. having children. that is the type of conservatism that i represent. and i got to be honest. that should be the essence of conservatism. and the essence of who we are. what point is there to living free if you're not advancing toward the kingdom of god? charlie had courage to speak to this, to raise these issues to a

lost generation, consumed into devices that are destroying the minds of our youth. devices that i would wipe away from the face of the planet tomorrow if i could. i would. god's honest truth. the amish are on to something. since i can't do that, can we not at least recognize that these are poisoning our children? that the first thought i had after i had gotten word that charlie was shot was to call my wife and to figure out how to get word to my son, also named charlie, who i knew was an enormous fan of charlie kirk, and who does not have social media or access to it on his telephone, but is around a lot

of friends who do, and to get word to him not to look at anything. because i knew immediately that the horrific images would be spread around instantly. and no children should be watching that. and that's just one example of millions every day polluting the minds of our children. coarsening our culture, breaking us down, addicting our children to devices instead of engagement and conversation and life and family and being outside. we are at each other's throats because we've turned our back on god. we're at each other's throats because nonstop there's a deluge of imagery and horrific thoughts

that are flooding into the inboxes and into the visibility of our children and, frankly, ourselves. charlie was correct, charlie kirk was correct. that we have to focus on getting back to church. getting our nation, our families, our communities back to church. would that this sunday everybody that's going to be at a national football league game or parked in front of a tv watching an nfl game, would that every single american doing that would be in church with devices off, tv's off, having supper with their

families. which society would be stronger? the fact of the matter is when i had to tell my son that unfortunately charlie had pa passed, and i said, he asked if that was formally known in public and i said, yes, he said, he's gone. i'm sorry, buddy -- i said, he's gone. i'm sorry, buddy. he said, i would have loved to meet him one day. and then he sent me a bible verse. he said, therefore, my dear brothers and sister, stand firm. let nothing move you. always give yourselves fully to

the work of the lord because you know that your labor in the lord is not in vain. first corinthians. well, thank goodness his mama is doing something right. a lot of people have asked me why one of my first reactions in light of all of this was to raise the prospect of an organized radical left that has been fomenting the targeting of people that i care about, people like charlie kirk, people like the family research council, targeting families and communities and our way of life, chip, why would you do that? aren't you just sowing more division and calling for a select -- in calling for a select committee to investigate the organized effort of the radical left?

i actually think it's the opposite of that. i started this talking about the need to pursue truth. our job in congress in part is oversight and investigation and pursuing truth and exposing it to the american people. it is a problem that organizations like the southern poverty law center, in creating hate maps in which they target the family research council, a decade ago, resulting in an individual shooting it up and a security guard getting shot right here in d.c., or charlie kirk's organization, tpusa, being put on that same map, with a target being put on their backs, antifa, known to be radicalized and engaging in terrorist activities which the president recognized just yesterday, i believe rightfully.

the extent to which there is an extraordinary network funded not just by george soros but a large number of radical billionaires that are funding organizations dedicated to putting into office d.a.'s and judges who put criminals on the street, who allow dangerous criminals to walk among us in our communities, on trains in charlotte, north carolina. where a young where a young woman from ukraine was butchered by someone who had been in and out of arrest, jail, 14 times. it's not just an accident. it's not just one random d.a. or judge or oh, george soros funded one election. it is a coordinated effort to

put d.a.'s and judges and other law enforcement officials into places in communities, including in the communities i represent in austin and san antonio and throughout texas, purposely. purposefully. to then have organizations like the wren collective which is now known, the reporting just this week from the law enforcement legal defense fund, putting out the known net works where they're going in and telling d.a.'s and prosecutors precisely what to do. precisely how to get people back on the streets sooner or not prosecute them. at all. the result of this is that dangerous individuals are walking among us and hurting us. hurting our loved ones. which is a direct threat to the security of our nation. so yes, i think we should investigate that. yes, i think we should get to the bottom of that. yes, i want to know how those dollars are flowing. yes, i want to know why the

people of san antonio have to be turned upside down or the people of charlotte, north carolina, have to be turned upside down because a radical group of billionaires are funding organizations that are funning these people to be put on our street. how about our borders? should we not know the flow of the dollars of the coordinated network through the united nations and through international organizations and through supposedly religious organizations? or that 250 organizations that are friends at the centers for immigration study pus out, demonstrating the network that was responsible for dumping millions of people into our communities including violent gang members from around the world. that resulted in the death of americans. americans like jocelyn ungaray. americans like laken riley. americans like rachel moran. i can go down the list of people who were killed, abused,

asalted, harmed, because a radical group of leftists decided that open borders for their political purposes was more important than your safety and security as americans. so yes, i think we should have a select committee or an organized effort among the judiciary committee or oversight committee to expose this network, to expose the funders, to expose the people that are doing this purposely to undermine your security as a nation. yes, we should know that. and the only question is why aren't every single representative in this body standing up and saying, yes. i agree. i agree with vice president j.d.

vance. deputy chief of staff stephen miller. when they put forward plans to go after leftist, nongovernmental organizations in the wake of charlie kirk's murder. the vice president said we're going to go after the n.g.o. networks that foment, facilitate and engage in violence. we're going to channel the anger that we have over the organized campaign that led to this assassination toup root and dismantle these terrorist networks. the vice president is correct. my friend stephen miller is correct. the president is correct. to be declaring antifa is a terrorist organization. enough is enough. enough with the disruption of our nation. and for those that say this is somehow clamping down on speech, wrong. you can say virtually anything you want to say in this country.

number one, there's consequences to that including getting fired. including having television shows canceled, because there's a limit to what a society should have to take. and if you're going to say crazy things, then there can be a consequence to saying those crazy things. and that is ok. and no, it is not interfering with your first amendment rights to say that you cannot engage in effectively conspiracy to foment violence. including, by the way, the riots in 2020. and supposedly healing racial

tuition in this name of certain lives matter. because we want odivide our country further. organizations funded for a specific purpose to create instability and to undermine our way of life and our freedoms, those should be investigated. left-wing groups that are providing material support to that kind of violence should be investigated. chip, why just left-wingers? why not right-wingers? well, fine. go look at any groups fomenting said violence. but all i know is that in the wake of charlie kirk getting

shot, i didn't see the streets around this country burning. i didn't see people's businesses and livelihoods getting looted and destroyed and burned from minneapolis to california to our nation's capital. i didn't see statues getting toppled and tossed into water. i didn't see spray painting and destruction of public monuments and statues. what i saw was prayer. what i saw was people coming together. in defense of their collective belief in god and their belief in this country. but willing to not just say, we need unity for the sake of it. i am tired of that. i'm tired of this nonsense where we say coming to, we must unite. we need unity.

unity for what? unity under what? unity under a constitution, under a flag, and under god. yes. in defense of a country with shared values, yes. not unity for the sake of it. not turning the other cheek to a lawless bunch of organizations designed to take down and destroy our way of life and our country. to undermine our faith. undermine our country. undermine our freedom. because that's what we see. and you have to be blind to ignore it. and you have to be willful in that blindness. to ignore the conspiracy and the coordination to dismantle so much of what made this country great. to target institutions of faith.

to target people for their conservative views and beliefs. to destabilize society. to put criminals on the streets. to import people from around the world with criminal backgrounds and gang members for your own crass political purposes to try to pack your districts and to try to expand your voter base. it's not working. because this administration and those of us who have stood up to fight this and expose this are seeing to it that we're removing people from this country who should be remove. securing the borders so people aren't flooding across it. standing with law enforcement. securing our communities. backing the blue. restoring safety and security. not just in our nation's capital but around the country. and making this country a place where you can achieve the american dream again. but only -- but only if we are

willing to take on these organizations that are still causing the lawless to be walking among us, that result in direct -- resulted directly in the death of a ukrainian refugee who thought she could live the american dream and it was taken away from her, because people were purposely put on the street who are dangerous. there's no other way to look at that. that's literally what happened. i know that there's going to be a lot more conversations, speeches, about charlie coming up. but i'll just close with this. in a 1981 speech, it's hard to believe it was almost 45 years

ago, president reagan declared, quote, liberal pro-criminal policies as rooted in utopian presumptions of human nature, for all our science and sophistication, for all our justified pride and intellectual accomplishment, we should never forget the jungle is always there waiting to take us other. he observed the liberal belief that criminal justice is solely for rehabilitation instead of incapacitation and deterrence is rooted in a belief that there was nothing perm nene or absolute about man's nature. and that by changing his environment we could permanently change man and usher in a great new age. president reagan was wright. -- was right. there's a place appropriately for forgiveness and rehabilitation. but there is not a place for allowing the rampant lawless and dangerous to be walking among our families and our communities

and our borders to be wide open to endanger our societies for this crazy notion of some utopian nonsense or worse yet a purposeful use of this tool for political purposes. i applaud the president for doing what he's doing to try to secure our country. i call on my colleagues to band together to expose to the american people these organized efforts that are undermining our security and our way of life. targeting specifically at us. it is high time that we expose it. it is high time we do something about it. and if we learned anything from what we saw unfold, that resulted in the murder of charlie, it is that we go find the people that are just as guilty as the young man that pulled that trigger, the people who are just as guilty, because they created that environment,

they fomented the radicalization and the creation of an environment where that occurred, knowingly, knowingly destabilizing our society in the process. with that, mr. speaker, i -- if my colleagues are ready? with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2025, the gentleman from colorado, mr. crow, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. crow: almost seven years ago, i came to congress to serve my community, my state, my fellow veterans, and the country

that i deeply love. in a different way than i served it on the battlefield. when i put the uniform on as a teenager, i swore an oath to the constitution. and i stand here today to uphold that oath. i came here to represent a state that has been wracked with trauma. columbine, aurora theater, club q bolder and most recently evergreen high. i came here because like so many of my fellow veterans i harbor deep resentment for our wars that cost thousands of lives, trillions of dollars, and decades of lost opportunity. i came here because the american working class has been gutted, left behind, and excluded from the american dream while the elites grow wealthier than ever. i came to congress assuming that

together with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle we could solve these problems together. and we could have open and safe debates and a free society. instead, i've seen two impeachments, an insurrection, a pandemic, cyber attacks, social unrest, political assassinations, mass shooting after mass shooting, wars, tumultuous elections, and a rapid collapse of our social fabric. in the last nine months, the republican majority has given up the power and the responsibility of congress to serve the american people and has turned this congress into nothing more than a rubber stamp for donald trump. we should be doing what we were we should be doing what we were sent here to do, making lives

better. but the republican majority has stopped that. the lives of average americans everywhere are getting much worse. prices are skyrocketing. homes are unaffordable. consumer debt is surging. unemployment is rising. credit scores are plummeting. family farms are going under. and gun violence continues to devastate our schools and our towns. and while americans struggle, donald trump and his family are cashing in at our expense. accepting endless gifts from businesses and foreign nations, including a $400 million debt. charging $500,000 to join a private club for access to trump officials. turning mar-a-lago and the white

house rose garden for a pay to play for the wealthy and well-connected and issuing meme coins so investors and foreign individuals can buy influence and personally enrich the president and his family. all of this has added billions of dollars to trump's wealth since becoming president. but while americans get poorer and trump gets richer, something darker is happening. the walls of our democracy are being disassembled brick by brick. federal troops are patrolling our streets to intimidate and instill fear. senators and members of congress are thrown to the ground handcuffed, arrested, and intimidated. they're firing our most experienced generals and

admirals who simply may disagree with the president. purging american officials who find themselves on the wrong side of the president's cronies. threatening american cities with war and violence. attacking civil society, journalists and public servants who show independence or speak freely. censoring media because someone dares to question or make a joke about the president. snatching people off the streets with masked agents in unmarked vehicles. forcing american troops to get on their knees and roll out a red carpet for a brutal dictator. and now using a terrible tragedy to pit americans against one another and grab power. political violence in every form is abhorrent. i condemn every single act of political violence regardless of

its source or its motivation. i went to war three times for this country to defend the constitution and the rights of people to say things i may disagree with. the right of every american to speak freely, peacefully, organize, and protest is fundamental to who we are. after all, what is more american than the ability to question authority? questioning authority is in fact how we came to be a nation. we all lose when free and open debate is replaced with violence or threats. we must not lose our right and our responsibility to speak up against abuses of authority. power in america has always been cyclical. at one time one party is in power and the next moment,

another. that's why we must all protect it all of the time, not just when it's convenient for you. everyone must defend the ability of a minority, republican or democrat, to question in protest. because at some point, you will need that right. that's why an attack on one person's freedom is an attack on all of us. and that is exactly what donald trump is doing. attacking all of our rights. donald trump and his cronies are now labeling those who disagree with them terrorists, scum, and enemies of the state. and only they will decide what is hateful. only they will decide what poses a threat. only they will decide who can speak and who will be silenceed.

if anyone thinks they are safe because it's happening to someone else this time, they're not paying attention to history. donald trump and his cronies have attacked anyone, including right wing comedians. trump wants to silent dissent and anyone who dare would speak up. when dissent to silence, they can turn our government and weaponize it into a institution that serves only donald trump and enriches whose who are loyal to him. in a system where the rule of law is replaced with raw power and governed by grievance, greed, cruelty, and impunity, nobody is safe. but this is not just a story of

a presidential power grab because that was envisioned by our constitution. that's why it was written as it was, to prevent power grabs. there are people with power right now allowing this to happen. as trump tramples on our institutions, some of the elite institutions are failing to defend our democracy. some of our nation's most powerful law firms have bent the knee. some of our finest universities are buckling. some of our most powerful c.e.o.'s have capitulated. and some of our largest media companies are simply surrendering. if those with power and influence want to sell off our rights and freedoms to enrich themselves, then americans should make it clear that

cowardice and greed will fail. we will not stop at your stores. we will not tune in to your tv and radio stations. we won't send our kids or money to your universities or use your services if you're going to enable or slide towards authoritarianism. what makes their cowardice and greed so stark is courage we've seen from everyday americans when i.c.e. agents started interrogating kids on a baseball diamond in harlem, coach wilder was the only thing that stood between those agents and his young players. despite threats, he stood up and told the agents they had no right to speak to those kids. the agents left.

in the moment wilder told himself he was willing to die to make sure those kids got home. in twist, washington, a small rural town trump won last november, hundreds of residents gather saturday to protest cuts to medicaid and snap, cuts that will devastate their communities one school teacher over 30 years said they protest because, quote, democracy only works if we work it. in april, millions took to the streets to peacefully protest. we saw massive demonstrations nationwide in cities big and small. in cortez, colorado, population 9,600 people stood up. in gardner, montana, population 900, several made their voices heard. in daleville, alabama, out of 500,000, 100 members of the

community stood up and spoke out. here in washington, d.c., as the national guard is patrolling and i.c.e. agents are ramping up raids across the city citizens are starting facebook groups to infirm fellow citizens of their rights. parents are patrolling schoolyards to protect the rights of students and other parents. and around the country journalists investigating and reporting the truth don't stop despite threats to them and their family. there is courage everywhere we look. we have not yet lost our power. so many americans have been sounding the alarm bell for a long time and have been right. we've now reached the inflection point. now is the time to stand firm. and for us to stand with them.

for all of us to stand with those defending democracy. defending free speech, defending freedom of religion, defending due process, defending the rule of law, defending the right of school children to learn without fear of being shot. defending government of the people by the people and for the people. i have taken many oaths to defend our country and constitution. first as a soldier and now as a member of congress. i often think back to the start of my service to this nation. as a young paratrooper. leading an infantry platoon in the invasion of iraq. i think about the faces of those young men i was responsible for, black, white, asian, hispanic, from the north, from the south,

east and west, from farms and from cities rich and poor. when i think of america, i still think of those young paratroopers, how we came together despite our differences. we served together and fought together and found great strength in one another. that is america. there is a tradition in the paratroopers that the leader of the unit jumps out of the plane first and then the others follow. i am ready to jump. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous

material. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. crow: mr. speaker, i yield back. mr. speaker, i move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president, please. the question on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 9:00 a.m. >> when mbs return be sure to follow our live coverage on the house here on c-span. >> what happened to charlie kirk

was horrific and a tragedy. what happeneds as you mentioned to the state legislators, minnesota, that is horrific. it is a tragedy. and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. the central premise of our democratic system is that we have to be able to disagree and have sometimes really contentious debates without resort to violence. [applause] president obama: and when it happens to some, but even if you think they are quote-unquote, on the other side of the argument, that's a threat to all of us. and we have to be clear and forthright in condemning it.

>> that was former president barack obama on the recent cases of political violence, including the assassinations of conservative political activist charlie kirk, and minnesota house speaker, melissa hortman. he talked about a range of topic, including the state of democracy in the u.s. the role of mass media, and the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. watch that conversation tonight at 10:00 eastern on c-span. it's also available on c-span now, our free mobile app. and c-span.org. >> next, president trump and british prime minister keir starmer announced a $42 billion tech deal, including investments in artificial intelligence and nuclear power. this is about 20 minutes.